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how do you know if your LO is having issues with your milk?

my LO is 5 weeks old. the last week she seems to scream bloody murder when she has a bowel movement. She also has started just screaming for no reason.. even from a sound sleep. BMs are more like diharrea. going up her back usually. sometimes out of her diaper. she BMs usually 2-4 times a day

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

Breastfed baby poop is always loose. Think watery yogurt consistency, maybe mixed with a little cottage cheese. It's very normal for it to shoot right out of the back of the diaper- though often that means it's time to move up a size.

If a baby is having a problem with your milk or something in your milk, you may observe:
- Failure to gain adequate weight
- Poops which are consistently green, watery, mucousy, scanty
- Poops which contain blood
- Baby does not poop enough

Only failure to gain weight or large amounts of blood in a baby's stool (not streaks or specks) indicate really worrisome health problems. When weight gain is good, all other poop concerns are secondary.

Screaming and fussiness have so many causes that they are unlikely to be related to your milk or anything in it.

ETA: if you see anything on the list above which matches what you're seeing in baby's diapers, let us know, and we'll see if we can help you figure out what the cause may be.

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

scanty means, not much, a small amount. ie, up the back blow outs are not scanty. And are entirely normal. Baby is on a liquid diet, her poops will be normally be very liguidy and difficult to 'contain.'

You have been adding pumping sessions in prep for goign back to work, right? So you may have a very slight temporary oversupply which might explain the mucous. Nothing to worrry about. At this time (going back to work) better to have a bit more milk than needed than the opposite.

Babies fuss/cry/scream for any number of reasons. You mentioned in another thread feeling stressed about going back to work. This is a normal feeling of course and I am not sure what you can do about it except ride it out, but babies pick up on stress in the adults around them imo. But based on your description of her poops I doubt there is much of an issue there. The only other thing I can think of is painful reflux, or GERD, where babies have obvious pain when burping and/or when spitting up and/or when laying flat and/or even when nursing. Spitups that are not painful are nothing to worry about. be careful as GERD is way overdiagnosed in infants.

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

I do have oald, which LO and I have been working well with at this point. I am pumping in prep for work, but i pump about 5 mins, which is how long she usually nurses. I give my hubby a bottle to feed her, do i don't feed then pump after. sometimes she seems happier when you lay her flat during a screaming session, but not always. she does get upset when you burp her most times, but most babies i know do. she does have very forceful burps though. comparable to mine.. lol.. she does spit u constantly throughout the day and it doesn't seem to bother her. what are your thoughts

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

My thoughts are this sounds normal until proven otherwise. I would suggest, as long as baby is taking the bottle well, no need for more than one bottle a day (if that) until you go back to work. Let baby nurse as much as she wants so you both can relax and enjoy this time before you return to work.

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

with LLLMeg. This just does not sound like a problem with your milk! Maybe an oversupply issue- but if it is, it's minor because baby's poops are yellow. When you have severe oversupply, the poop is likely to be consistently green. I agree that reflux is another potential explanation here- but as LLLMeg said, it's overdiagnosed so don't go there unless you have to!

Is the screaming happening, or is it worse, at a particular time of day? Maybe in the evenings?

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

So now her screams have gone from once in awhile.. to pretty much alot of the time i'm away at work.. could she just be a fussy baby? she is sometimes inconsolable for my DH. I would say 2 to 3 days out of my work week LO is very unhappy while i'm gone. cries when she gets put down alot! like full blown screams actually.. not cries. doc said she's fine. it's a phase.. still clear mucus, almost jelly like in her diapers, but not everyday. poops go back and forth between yellow and green.

Re: how do you know if your LO is having issues with your mi

cries when she gets put down alot!

i hate to say it but that could be your answer right there. many babies do not like being put down, or can only be put down after they are deeply asleep. this is normal and just means they are smart babies and know the safest place is in the arms of a trusted adult. Do you have a sling or other front carrier dh is comfortable using?